Title

Author

Degree Name

MA (Master of Arts)

Program

Psychology

Date of Award

5-2017

Committee Chair or Co-Chairs

Jon R. Webb

Committee Members

Stacey L. Williams, Chris S. Dula

Abstract

Growing evidence for protective factors of spirituality against physical and mental health related outcomes has led to the consideration of spirituality as a protective factor for suicidal behaviors. Although initial support for this association is promising, spirituality has yet to be explored as it relates to psychache. Additionally, self-forgiveness has emerged as an important protective factor of suicidal behavior, but has not been explored in the context of psychache. Following a model developed by Webb, Hirsch, and Toussaint (2015), the current project explores the protective role of spirituality on suicidal behavior based on three dimensions of spirituality: ritualistic, theistic, and existential. A total of 262 individuals completed a self-report survey online through Amazon Mechanical Turk. Results indicate that only Existential Spirituality is related to suicidal behaviors. Further, self-forgiveness and psychache were found to be serial mediators of this relationship. Implications for clinical interventions and directions for future research are discussed.